Promoting Participation of Low-Activity Users in Social Networking System

ABSTRACT

Method or system for allowing a social networking system to retain users of a social networking system by identifying low-activity users who are likely to become inactive/dormant users and prompting users to initiate interactions with the low-activity users. The low-activity users are identified by monitoring activities and interactions of the users via the social networking system. If the pattern of activities and interactions satisfy one or more criteria, a computer device for providing the social networking system initiates an intervention scheme where users are induced to initiate interactions with the low-activity users. In response to the interactions, the low-activity users are likely to resume interactions via the social networking system.

BACKGROUND

This invention relates to retaining users in a social networking systemby resuming or increasing interactions between the users of the socialnetworking system.

The success of a social networking system hinges on attracting andretaining users, and encouraging those users to be active in the socialnetworking system. Attracting and retaining users are important for atleast the following two reasons. First, the number of users is criticalto the number and quality of interactions between the users. As thenumber of the users increases, more user-generated content (UGC)(including postings and media items) become available via the socialnetworking system. The increase in the UGC contributes to the increasein the number and quality of interactions between the users. Conversely,if the social networking system loses active users, the number andquality of interactions between the users tend to deteriorate, as thenumber and quality of the UGC deteriorate.

Second, the advertisement revenue of the social networking systemdepends largely on the number of active users. Many social networkingsystems do not charge fees for membership. Instead, these socialnetworking systems rely on revenue generated from online advertisementsto sustain their business. With more revenue, the social networkingsystem in turn can attract more users by adding more resources (e.g.,servers) and/or providing other useful services. Hence, attracting andretaining active users in the social networking systems are alsoimportant from the business perspective of the social networkingsystems.

To attract and retain users and to encourage the users to interact,social networking systems have traditionally relied on various methods,such as providing unique and helpful information unavailable in otherservices, advertising the social networking system, compensatingreferrals from other websites or users, and providing free access toresources such as storage space or data (e.g., media items). Such waysof attracting and retaining users have limited efficacy, and hence,users of the social networking systems tend to decrease gradually asother competing systems emerge.

SUMMARY

Embodiments relate to encouraging greater participation of alow-activity user in a social networking system, where the low-activityuser is one who is currently showing a low level of activity within asocial networking system. A user's level of activity in the socialnetworking system may be measured in any of a number of ways, such asthe frequency of logging in, viewing pages, or interacting with otherusers. To encourage greater participation of a low-activity user, thesocial networking system sends a recommendation to another user of thesocial networking system that has an established connection to thelow-activity user, where the recommendation suggests that the other userinteract in some way with the low-activity user. The recommendation maybe sent to the user in response to the user's interaction with thesocial networking system. The recommendation may also include a linkthat enables the user to perform the suggested interactions with thelow-activity user by choosing to take an action according to therecommendation. By encouraging users of a social networking system tointeract with low-activity users, the low-activity user's experience inthe social networking system is improved, and the low-activity user isthus more likely to become a more active participant in the socialnetworking system.

In one embodiment, the action items suggested in the recommendation aredetermined based on at least one of (i) information about thelow-activity user, (ii) whether a recommendation was previously made oracted upon by other users and/or (iii) media source items (e.g., audiofiles, video files, image files, links and postings) provided by thelow-activity user.

In one embodiment, the page of information comprises one or more userinterface elements for display to the user. Each user interface elementrepresenting an action item for encouraging the low-activity user toincrease activities in the social networking system. When the userselects one of the user interface elements, an action item correspondingto the selected user interface element is initiated.

In one embodiment, an affinity between the user and the user'sconnections are determined. To generate a recommendation for the user,the social networking system selects a low-activity user from among theuser's connections based at least in part on the user's affinity for theuser's connections. In this way, the recommendation is more likely to beacted upon, since the user receiving the recommendation is more likelyto be interested in the low-activity user who is the subject of therecommendation.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram illustrating a system for providing asocial networking system, according to one embodiment.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram illustrating a computing device for providingthe social networking system, according to one embodiment.

FIG. 3 is a block diagram illustrating a user device for accessing thesocial networking system, according to one embodiment.

FIG. 4 is a flowchart illustrating a process of inducing interactionswith low-activity users in a social networking system, according to oneembodiment.

FIG. 5 is a graphical user interface displayed on the user device,according to one embodiment.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

The following description is presented to enable any person skilled inthe art to make and use the invention, and is provided in the context ofparticular applications of the invention and their requirements. Variousmodifications to the disclosed embodiments will be readily apparent tothose skilled in the art and the general principles defined herein maybe applied to other embodiments and applications without departing fromthe scope of the present invention. Thus, the present invention is notintended to be limited to the embodiments shown, but is to be accordedthe widest scope consistent with the principles and features disclosedherein.

Embodiments of the present invention provide an intervention scheme thatallows a social networking system to identify low-activity users who arelikely to become inactive/dormant users and prompting users to initiateinteractions with the low-activity users. The low-activity users areidentified by monitoring activities and the users' interactions via thesocial networking system. If the pattern of activities or interactionssatisfies one or more criteria, the social networking system initiatesan intervention scheme where the user is recommended to take actionsthat induce interactions with the low-activity users. In response to theinteractions, the low-activity users are likely to resume interactionsvia the social networking system. In this way, the likelihood that thelow-activity users will become inactive or dormant is reduced.

A low-activity user described herein refers to a user of a socialnetworking system showing a low level of actions in the socialnetworking system, and is likely to become inactive or dormant user. Ifa user becomes inactive or dormant, the user no longer activelyinteracts with other users via the social networking system.

Connections described herein are usually in both directions, but neednot be. For example, if Nair and Sam are both users and connected toeach other on the social networking system, Nair and Sam, both users,are also each other's connections. If, on the other hand, Nair wishes toconnect to Sam to view Sam's posts, but Sam does not wish to form amutual connection, a one-way connection is also possible. The connectionbetween users may be a direct connection; however, some embodiments of asocial networking system allow the connection to be indirect via one ormore levels of connections or degrees or separation. Also, the termconnection need not require that users actually be connections in reallife, (which would generally be the case when one of the users is abusiness or other entity); it simply implies a connection in the socialnetworking system. Further, not all social networking systems requiremembership, so the term “user” can refer to any user interacting with orusing a social networking system, with or without having a membership.

A page of information described herein refers to any type of mediacontent that may be provided by a social networking system. The page ofinformation may be in the form of a webpage that embeds source mediaitems such as, video files, audio files, images, comments, documents,maps, and a status message indicating what a user is doing, interestedin or engaged in.

The “user” described herein refers to any user of a social networkingsystem. A user can be an individual person, a group (e.g., a band orclub), a business enterprise, or even a fictional character or entity.

Affinity as described herein refers to strength of connections or tiesbetween the users. Not all connections between the users may be equal.For example, a user having a high affinity with another user may sharestrong interest and/or communicate extensively between each other. Incontrast, a user having a low affinity with another user may sharelittle or no interest and communicate infrequently with each other.

Architecture and Operation of System

FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram illustrating a social networking system100 according to one embodiment. The system 100 includes, among othercomponents, user devices 104 and a computing device 108. The userdevices 104 are connected via a network 110 (e.g., Internet) to thecomputing device 108. The system 100 may include other components notillustrated in FIG. 1. For example, the system 100 may include a paymentsystem for clearing any financial transactions performed via thecomputing device 108.

The computing device 108 maintains data for providing the socialnetworking system to the users. The computing device 108 may, forexample, be implemented on a server that is located remotely from theuser devices 104. The computing device 108 may also include variousservers (not shown) for caching frequently requested data objects, andnetwork security devices (not shown) for preventing unauthorized accessto data. Although FIG. 1 illustrates only a single computing device, thecomputing device 108 may consist of multiple servers operating inconcert. In one embodiment, the computing device 108 includescomponents, as described below in detail with reference to FIG. 2.

The user devices 104 are accessed by users to take advantage of thesocial networking system. The user devices 104 may include, but are notlimited to, personal computers, mobile phones, personal navigationdevices (PNDs), music players, gaming consoles, handheld computers,personal digital assistants (PDAs), networking devices, cameras, GPSreceivers, netbooks and smartphones. An example user device 104 isdescribed below in detail with reference to FIG. 3.

In one embodiment, a user initiates communication with the computingdevice 108 using the user device 104. Authentication information (e.g.,user ID and password) is sent from the user device 104 to the computingdevice 108 via the network 110. After authenticating the user, thecomputing device 108 generates and sends a page of information (e.g., awebpage) for the user. The user may also upload source media items(e.g., postings and video files) to the computing device 108 via theuser device 104. The uploaded source media items may be stored in thecomputing device 108 and may be used as source information forgenerating customized page of information for other users.

Social Networking System

In one embodiment, the computing device 108 performs a large bulk ofoperations associated with providing the social networking systems tothe users. The user devices 104, on the other hand, are assigned withless intensive operations, mostly associated with interfacing with theusers. In most cases, the computing device 108 will have much largercomputation capacity and storage capacity compared to the user devices104.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram illustrating the computing device 108 forproviding the social networking system, according to one embodiment. Thecomputing device 108 may include, among other components, socialnetworking system database 212, user communication module 220, contentrepository 216, user activity monitor 224, action recommendation module228, content item processor 232, and user affinity engine 242. One ormore components of the computing device 108 may be implemented inhardware, software, firmware or any combinations thereof. Althoughillustrated as separate modules, two or more components of the computingdevice 108 may be combined into a single module. In one embodiment, atleast some of these components are implemented as a set of computerinstructions that are stored in memory and executed by a processor inthe computing device 108.

The user communication module 220 communicates with the user devices 104via the network 110. The user communication module 220 may includenetwork cards, routers, other networking devices, and software orfirmware for communicating with the user devices 104 over the network110 using networking protocols such as TCP/IP. In one embodiment, theuser communication module 220 is configured to simultaneously establishsessions with multiple users.

The social networking system database 212 stores data associated withusers of the social networking system, including but not limited to,user authentication data, user profiles, user activity data (e.g., loginformation), a social relationship map, and privacy settings of theusers. The user activity data indicate the level of interactions eachuser is having with other users via the social networking system. Asdescribed below, the user activity data are analyzed and processed bythe user activity monitor 224 to identify low-activity users. The socialrelationship map indicates the social relationships between users. Theprivacy setting indicates the extent to which the information is to beshared with other users.

The user affinity engine 242 accesses the social networking systemdatabase 212 to determine the affinity between the users. Morespecifically, the user affinity engine 242 analyzes the socialrelationships between the users and determines the degree of affinitybetween users. The higher degree of affinity between two userstranslates to a higher likelihood that two users may affect each other'sbehavior. The user affinity engine 242 may be implemented using, forexample, the technology disclosed in U.S. patent application Ser. No.11/503,093, entitled “Systems and Methods for Measuring User Affinity ina Social Network Environment,” filed on Aug. 11, 2006, which isincorporated by reference herein in its entirety. In one embodiment, theuser affinity engine 242 updates the social map to indicate the degreeof affinity between the users.

The user activity monitor 224 reads information stored in the socialnetworking system database 212 to identify low-activity users. Thelow-activity users are identified based on one or more criteriaincluding, but not limited to, (i) login frequency to the socialnetworking system dropping below a threshold, (ii) decreasing trend inthe login frequency, (iii) the amount of data transmitted over thesocial networking system (e.g., number of the user posts content andnumbers of user profile page downloads), (iv) the number of interactions(e.g., number of messages exchanged, number of participations in onlineevents, and number of feeds received) with other users, (v) the averagelogin time, (vi) reference to other social networking systems in theusers' messages, (vii) the number of connections to other users in thesocial network, (viii) the number of page views and (ix) clicks orimpressions viewed. In one embodiment, the user activity monitor 224adopts a point system that assigns different points or scores to any ofthese factors. In this embodiment, a user is identified as alow-activity user if the accumulated points or scores exceed a thresholdor drops below a threshold.

The action recommendation module 228 determines action items to be takento promote the participation of the low-activity users. The actionrecommendation module 228 receives, from the user affinity engine 242,information about the low-activity users from the user activity monitor224 and the information about other users having a high degree ofaffinity with the low-activity users from the user affinity engine 242.Based on the identify of the low-activity users and the other usershaving close social relationships with the low-activity users, theaction recommendation module 228 determines the action items to berecommended to the users for promoting participation of the low-activityusers. In most circumstances, the users to whom the action items arerecommended are highly active users but any users including thelow-activity users may be recommended with action items.

The actions for recommendation to the users include, among others, (i)writing or posting content related to the low-activity users, (ii)introducing another user with whom the low-activity users may formsocial relationships, (iii) suggesting updating of the user profiles ofthe low-activity users, (iv) sending or posting messages associated withthe low-activity users (e.g., commenting on photos of the low-activityusers, sending messages wishing the low-activity user a happy birthday,and leaving messages on the low-activity user's page or wall), (v)sending gifts (including virtual points or credit) to the low-activityusers, and (vi) tagging photos of the low-activity user.

In one embodiment, different activities may be recommended on a rotatingbasis to the users. That is, if a user was recommended to write or postcontents about a low-activity user, another user may be recommended tosend messages to the same low-activity user. The page of informationpresented to the user is described below in detail with reference toFIG. 5. In another embodiment, different action items may be recommendedto the users in a random fashion. When randomly suggesting action items,frequency capping may be implemented so that an activity is no longerrecommended after the same action item is recommended to the same ordifferent users over a certain frequency threshold.

In one embodiment, the action recommendation module 228 keeps track ofactions taken by the users in response to the recommendation. The actionrecommendation module 228 may maintain statistical data related to thefrequency that the recommended activity was taken by the other users.The data stored in the action recommendation module may include, amongothers, timestamps, viewer ID, types of action items in therecommendation and ID of target user. Moreover, the actionrecommendation module 228 may also record the frequency that thelow-activity user responded to the user's action. Based on thestatistical data, the action recommendation module 228 may prioritizeaction items that are more likely to induce low-activity users' actions.For example, if a user successfully prompted a low-activity user tointeract by engaging in one type of action item, the actionrecommendation module 228 may make the same recommendation to anotheruser to promote the interaction with the same low-activity user.Further, the statistical data may be used to identify key usersimportant to expanding or maintaining active users in the socialnetworking system. Such key users may be rewarded in various manners toensure their continued participation in the social networking system.

The content repository 216 stores data for generating the page ofinformation for users. The data stored in the content repository 216 mayinclude various types of media source items such as audio files, videofiles, image files, links and postings. The media source items are usedas source information for creating a page of information customized foreach user. In one embodiment, the content repository 216 is implementedas a database.

The content item processor 232 generates the page of information for theusers based on the media source items available from the contentrepository 216. In one embodiment, the page of information is customizedfor each user based on the user profiles or connections with otherusers. The content item processor 232 also receives recommended actionitems from the action recommendation module 228. Based on therecommended action items, the content item processor 232 includes userinterface elements (e.g., icons) representing the recommended actionitems in the page of information for the user. The page of informationgenerated by the content item processor 232 is sent to the usercommunication module 220 for transmittal to the user devices 104. In oneembodiment, the content generated by the content item processor 232 is awebpage, as described below in detail with reference to FIG. 5.

Although the components of the computing device 108 are illustrated asbeing included in a single computing device in FIG. 2, one or morecomponents may be embodied on a separate computer. Further, in order toserve a large number of users, the computing device 108 may consist of alarge number of servers and networking equipments that may be located ina single geographic region or in different geographic regions.

In one embodiment, the computing device 108 includes a processor, memoryand a bus connecting the processor and the memory. The memory is acomputer-readable storage medium that stores a plurality of computerinstruction modules for performing functions of each component describedabove with reference to FIG. 2. The instructions in the memory isretrieved and executed by the processor. In another embodiment, thecomputer device 108 includes firmware and hardware dedicated to performthe functions of the components described above with reference to FIG.2.

Example User Device for Accessing the Social Networking System

FIG. 3 is a block diagram illustrating the user device 104 for accessingthe social networking system, according to one embodiment. The mainfunction of the user device 104 in the context of social networkingsystem is to interface with the users. The user device 104 may include,among other components, screen 320, communication module 330, centralprocessor 340, input device 350, memory 360, and bus 344 connectingthese components. The user device 104 may include other components(e.g., speaker) that are not illustrated in FIG. 3.

The screen 320 presents visual information to the user. The visualinformation may include, among others, information associated withaccessing the social networking system and other services accessible viathe user device 104.

The communication module 330 communicates with the computing device 108over the network 110 to access the social networking system. Thecommunication module 330 may include, for example, a network card or amodem. The communication module 330 may communicate with the network 110via a wireless or wired communication protocol.

The central processor 340 reads and executes instructions from thememory 360. The central processor 340 controls other components of theuser device 104 according to the instructions. Although a singleprocessor is illustrated in FIG. 3, the user device 104 may includemultiple processors to increase its computational capacity.

The input device 350 may include various user interface devices such asa keyboard, a mouse, a keypad and a touchscreen. Two or more inputmodules may be provided as the input device 350 to facilitate varioustypes of user interactions.

The memory 360 stores data including, among others, computer instructionmodules for performing certain functions of the user device 104. Theinstructions stored in the memory 360 may be read and executed by thecentral processor 340. Among other computer instruction modules, thememory 360 stores a service interface module 364. The service interfacemodule 364 is an application used for accessing and interfacing with thesocial networking system. In one embodiment, the service interfacemodule 364 is embodied as a web browser. In another embodiment, theservice interface 364 is a software program dedicated to accessing thesocial networking system.

Method of Promoting Engagement of Low-Activity Users

FIG. 4 is a flowchart illustrating a process of inducing low-activityusers to engage with and interact within a social networking system,according to one embodiment. First, the computing device 108 receives402 a request for a page of information from a user. In one embodiment,the service interface 364 sends the request for the page of informationautomatically to the computing device 108 after the user logs onto thesocial networking system.

The user activity monitor 224 accesses the information stored in thesocial networking system database 212 to identify 408 the low-activityusers having connections with the logged-in user. The accessedinformation in the social networking system may include, among others,log information indicating the time and duration of the users' access tothe social networking system, the amount of data sent or received viathe social networking system, and the count of interactions (e.g.,number of messages exchanged, number of participations in online events,and number of feeds received) with of the users via the socialnetworking system.

In one embodiment, the user activity monitor 224 also receivesinformation from the content repository 216 such as the total number orsize of data items that a particular user stored in or retrieved fromthe content repository 216.

In one embodiment, the user affinity engine 242 selects 410, for eachuser, target low-activity users to recommend action items. If there aremore than one low-activity users having connections with the logged-inuser, the low-activity users may be prioritized based on the likelihoodthat the low-activity users will respond to the logged-in user's action.Various criteria such as degree of affinity may be considered indetermining the likelihood that the low-activity users will respond. Forexample, a low-activity user having a high degree of affinity with theuser is chosen over other low-activity users having a low degree ofaffinity with the requesting user. In an alternative embodiment, thelow-activity users for intervention are selected randomly without takinginto account the degree of affinity between the users. In still anotherembodiment, the user affinity engine 242 selects, for each targetlow-activity user, connected users to recommend action items that mayinvoke the low-activity user's participation.

In one embodiment, the user affinity monitor 242 may analyze information(e.g., a social map) in the social networking system database 212 todetermine which low-activity users have a connection with the logged-inuser. The user affinity monitor 242 may also determine the degree ofaffinity between the users, for example, using, the technology disclosedin U.S. patent application Ser. No. 11/503,093, entitled “Systems andMethods for Measuring User Affinity in a Social Network Environment,”filed on Aug. 11, 2006, which is incorporated by reference herein in itsentirety.

The action recommendation module 228 then determines 414 one or moreaction items to be taken by the user to induce the low-activity user'saction. The action items to be taken may be determined based on one ormore of the following factors: (i) the profile of the low-activity user,(ii) the profile of the user, (iii) media source items provided by thelow-activity user, (iv) likelihood that the user will choose to performthe action items, and (v) the low-activity user's previous interactionswith other users in the social networking system. For example, theaction recommendation module 228 may analyze the profile information ofthe low-activity user to determine if the low-activity user's birthdayor wedding anniversary is approaching, and recommend action itemsassociated with such anniversary to the logged-in user (e.g., send amessage wishing happy birthday). Alternatively, the actionrecommendation module 228 may determine the action items randomly.

Based on the determined action items, the content item processor 232prepares 418 a page of information embedding the user interface elements(e.g., icon or links) Each user interface element represents thedetermined action items. In one embodiment, the page of informationincludes various types of media source items such as audio files, videofiles, image files, links and postings. Some of such media source itemsmay be user-generated content (UGC) provided by other users of thesocial networking system. The page of information for a user may becustomized to include “feed” from other connected users, for example, asdescribed in U.S. patent application Ser. No. 11/503,242 entitled“System and Method for Dynamically Providing a News Feed about a User ofa Social Network,” filed on Aug. 11, 2006, which is incorporated byreference herein in its entirety.

The generated page of information is then sent 422 to the logged-in userthat requested the page of information. Specifically, the generated pageof information may be sent via the network 110 to the user device 104 ofthe user that requested the page of information. After receiving thepage of information, the user may choose to perform an action item asrecommended in the page of information. In one embodiment, a reward isawarded to the user who chooses to perform a recommended action item.The reward, for example, may be virtual credits, gifts or items.

The user's action item performed by the user may create a newsfeed asdescribed, for example, in U.S. patent application Ser. No. 11/503,037,entitled “Communicating a Newsfeed of Media Content Based on a Member'sInteractions in a Social Network Environment,” filed on Aug. 11, 2006,which is incorporated by reference herein in its entirety.

The sequence of steps in FIG. 4 is merely illustrative. Variousmodifications may be made to the method including performing some stepsin parallel, performing steps in a sequence different from what isillustrated in FIG. 4, and adding additional steps. For example, thestep 408 of identifying the low-activity user may be performed beforethe step 402 of receiving the request for page from the user.

Example Page of Information Recommending Actions by Users

FIG. 5 is a graphical user interface 500 displayed on the user device104, according to one embodiment. The graphical user interface 500includes source content area 520 and recommendation area 530. The sourcecontent area 520 includes one or more source media items such aspostings, video files, audio files, and links stored in the contentrepository 216. The user of the user device 114 may choose to upload andpublish media source item by providing files or messages in user inputarea 512. The media source items provided by the user may then be storedin the content repository 216 for sharing with other users having socialrelationships with the user.

The user may also choose a webpage to view by clicking an item innavigation area 514 in the source content area 520. FIG. 5 illustrates“Newsfeed” as currently being selected for display.

The recommendation area 530 includes recommendations to induceinteractions of the low-activity users. In the example of FIG. 5, fivelow-activity users are listed in areas 542 through 558. Theselow-activity users are identified by the user activity monitor 224, asdescribed above with reference to FIG. 2. For each low-activity user,recommended action items such as “write on his wall,” “suggest friendsto him,” “suggest a profile picture,” “wish her happy birthday,” and“send him a message” are provided. The recommended action items areselected by the action recommendation module 228 for inclusion in thepage of information 500, as described above with reference to FIG. 2.

Bars 560 and 564 indicate the degree that the profile of thecorresponding users is completed. In the example of FIG. 5, John King'sprofile is 30% completed and Parker Sato's profile is 50% completed.

Each of areas 542 through 558 include a link for sending a request tothe computing device 108 when the user presented with the page ofinformation 500 clicks any of these areas 542 through 558. Afterreceiving the request, the computing device 108 may then performoperations chosen by the user or send a subsequent page of information(e.g., webpage) that facilitates the user to accomplish the chosenaction item (e.g., present a webpage for sending a message to alow-activity user).

In another embodiment, the recommendation area 530 may include actionitems for other active users as well as low-activity users. The actionitems in the recommendation area 530 may be arranged in a manner thatdoes not distinguish action items for user and action items forlow-activity users. Alternatively, the recommendation area 530 mayinclude indications as to which users are a low-active and which usersare not low-activity users.

The page of information 500 in FIG. 5 is merely illustrative. Variousmedia source items may be provided in different arrangements. Forexample, the source content area 520 and the recommendation area 530 maynot be clearly distinguished into different sections of the page ofinformation. Further, various types of other actions may be recommendedfor the low-activity users.

The foregoing description of the embodiments of the invention has beenpresented for the purpose of illustration; it is not intended to beexhaustive or to limit the invention to the precise forms disclosed.Persons skilled in the relevant art can appreciate that manymodifications and variations are possible in light of the abovedisclosure.

Some portions of this description describe the embodiments of theinvention in terms of algorithms and symbolic representations ofoperations on information. These algorithmic descriptions andrepresentations are commonly used by those skilled in the dataprocessing arts to convey the substance of their work effectively toothers skilled in the art. These operations, while describedfunctionally, computationally, or logically, are understood to beimplemented by computer programs or equivalent electrical circuits,microcode, or the like. Furthermore, it has also proven convenient attimes, to refer to these arrangements of operations as modules, withoutloss of generality. The described operations and their associatedmodules may be embodied in software, firmware, hardware, or anycombinations thereof.

Any of the steps, operations, or processes described herein may beperformed or implemented with one or more hardware or software modules,alone or in combination with other devices. In one embodiment, asoftware module is implemented with a computer program productcomprising a computer-readable medium containing computer program code,which can be executed by a computer processor for performing any or allof the steps, operations, or processes described.

Embodiments of the invention may also relate to an apparatus forperforming the operations herein. This apparatus may be speciallyconstructed for the required purposes, and/or it may comprise ageneral-purpose computing device selectively activated or reconfiguredby a computer program stored in the computer. Such a computer programmay be stored in a non-transitory, tangible computer readable storagemedium, or any type of media suitable for storing electronicinstructions, which may be coupled to a computer system bus.Furthermore, any computing systems referred to in the specification mayinclude a single processor or may be architectures employing multipleprocessor designs for increased computing capability.

Embodiments of the invention may also relate to a product that isproduced by a computing process described herein. Such a product maycomprise information resulting from a computing process, where theinformation is stored on a non-transitory, tangible computer readablestorage medium and may include any embodiment of a computer programproduct or other data combination described herein.

Finally, the language used in the specification has been principallyselected for readability and instructional purposes, and it may not havebeen selected to delineate or circumscribe the inventive subject matter.It is therefore intended that the scope of the invention be limited notby this detailed description, but rather by any claims that issue on anapplication based hereon. Accordingly, the disclosure of the embodimentsof the invention is intended to be illustrative, but not limiting, ofthe scope of the invention, which is set forth in the following claims.

What is claimed is:
 1. A computer-implemented method, comprising:storing data for a plurality of users of a social networking system;identifying, by a computing device, a first user among the plurality ofusers based on actions or inactions by the first user on the socialnetworking system; and causing a second user among the plurality ofusers to perform an action associated with the first user on the socialnetworking system by sending an identification of the first user to thesecond user for display.
 2. The computer-implemented method of claim 1,wherein the first user is identified based on at least one of: (i) loginfrequency to the social networking system by the first user, (ii) amountof data transmitted over the social networking system by the first user,(iii) number of connections of the first user to other users in thesocial networking system, (iv) number of page views by the first us, and(v) clicks or impressions viewed by the first user.
 3. Thecomputer-implemented method of claim 1, wherein the action associatedwith the first user is based on at least one of (i) information for thefirst user stored in the social networking system, (ii) informationregarding whether the action was previously made or acted upon by one ormore users connected to the first user, and (iii) information about thefirst user's activities on the social networking system.
 4. Thecomputer-implemented method of claim 1, wherein the action associatedwith the first user comprises posting content related to the first useror sending a message to the first user.
 5. The computer-implementedmethod of claim 1, wherein the action associated with the first usercomprises sending gifts to the first user.
 6. The computer-implementedmethod of claim 1, wherein the action associated with the first user isdetermined based on statistical data related to a frequency that a typeof action associated with the first user was historically performed byone or more second users of the social networking system.
 7. Thecomputer-implemented method of claim 1, wherein the action associatedwith the first user is determined based on statistical data related tothe frequency that one or more first users historically responded to atype of action associated with the first user.
 8. Thecomputer-implemented method of claim 1, wherein the action is determinedbased on at least one of (i) a profile of the first user, (ii) a mediaitem provided by the first user, (iii) a likelihood that the second userwill choose to perform the action, and (iv) the first user's previousinteractions with other users in the social networking system.
 9. Thecomputer-implemented method of claim 1, further comprising generating apage of information for the second user based on the action associatedwith the first user, wherein the page of information includes mediasource items.
 10. A non-transitory computer-readable storage mediumstoring instructions for providing a social networking system, theinstructions executed by a processor and causing the processor to: storedata for a plurality of users of a social networking system; identify,by a computing device, a first user among the plurality of users basedon actions or inactions by the first user on the social networkingsystem; and cause a second user among the plurality of users to performan action associated with the first user on the social networking systemby sending an identification of the first user to the second user fordisplay.
 11. The computer-readable storage medium of claim 10, whereinthe first user is identified based on at least one of: (i) loginfrequency to the social networking system by the first user, (ii) amountof data transmitted over the social networking system by the first user,(iii) number of connections of the first user to other users in thesocial networking system, (iv) number of page views by the first us, and(v) clicks or impressions viewed by the first user.
 12. Thecomputer-readable storage medium of claim 10, wherein the actionassociated with the first user is based on at least one of (i)information for the first user maintained in the social networkingsystem, (ii) information regarding whether the action was previouslymade or acted upon by one or more users connected to the first user, and(iii) information about the first user's activities on the socialnetworking system.
 13. The computer-readable storage medium of claim 10,wherein the action associated with the first user comprises postingcontent related to the first user or sending a message to the firstuser.
 14. The computer-readable storage medium of claim 10, wherein theaction associated with the first user comprises sending gifts to thefirst user.
 15. The computer-readable storage medium of claim 10,wherein the action associated with the first user is determined based onstatistical data related to a frequency that a type of action associatedwith the first user was historically performed by one or more secondusers of the social networking system.
 16. The computer-readable storagemedium of claim 10, wherein the action associated with the first user isdetermined based on statistical data related to the frequency that oneor more first users historically responded to a type of actionassociated with the first user.
 17. The computer-readable storage mediumof claim 10, wherein the action is determined based on at least one of(i) a profile of the first user, (ii) a media item provided by the firstuser, (iii) a likelihood that the second user will choose to perform theaction, and (iv) the first user's previous interactions with other usersin the social networking system.
 18. The computer-readable storagemedium of claim 10, the instructions further causing the processor togenerate a page of information for the second user based on the actionassociated with the first user, wherein the page of information includesmedia source items.
 19. A computing device for providing a socialnetworking system, comprising, comprising: a processor; a databaseconfigured to store data for a plurality of users of a social networkingsystem; a user activity monitor configured to identify, by a computingdevice, a first user among the plurality of users based on actions orinactions by the first user on the social networking system; and anaction recommendation module configured to cause a second user among theplurality of users to perform an action associated with the first useron the social networking system by sending an identification of thefirst user to the second user for display.
 20. The computing device ofclaim 19, wherein the action associated with the first user comprisesposting content related to the first user or sending a message to thefirst user.